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Madame Palatine’s Burn Book, Part 3
On September 29, 2021 by ElyseWelcome! If you haven’t yet read Part 1 and Part 2, click there and then come back to fully appreciate Liselotte’s salacious gossip. Don’t be fooled: Madame Palatine, aka Liselotte, may look like a sweet, doting grandmother, but her dirt is as vicious as Regina George’s, as scandalous as Gossip Girl’s and as dangerous as
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Madame Palatine’s Burn Book, Part 2
On September 15, 2021 by ElyseBonjour! If you haven’t yet read Part 1, start there for the full scoop on Liselotte and her clique. Last time, we patiently listened, er, read as Madame Palatine, aka Liselotte, vented in her 18th-century correspondence about her daddy issues, disobedient son and cringeworthy views on women in power. With all those grudges, how did
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Madame Palatine’s Burn Book, Part 1
On September 1, 2021 by ElyseShe is a wicked devil; treacherous in every way, and of a very dangerous temper. Upon the whole, she is not good for much. – Elizabeth-Charlotte, Duchesse d’Orléans, Memoirs of the Court of Louis XIV and of the Regency, 1899 If you enjoyed the movie “Mean Girls” as much as teenage me did, allow me
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A Sampler of Courage, Part 3
On September 18, 2019 by ElyseBefore reading, fortify yourself with Part 1 and Part 2. Already read them? En garde! After three free samples, if you don’t buy something, I’m going to have to ask you to leave. . . . Just kidding. According to my website stats, you’re the only ones here. Don’t move a muscle unless you’re scrolling
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Blabbing with a Buccaneer, Part Two
On September 26, 2018 by ElyseAhoy, mateys! Welcome to the second and final chapter of my imagined interview with an unsung pirate of the Caribbean, Laurens Cornelis Boudewijn de Graaf. If you’re just coming onboard, be sure to catch up on Part One. Welcome back, Captain de Graaf. You were just telling us what self-aggrandizing feat you performed after tracking
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Blabbing with a Buccaneer, Part One
On September 19, 2018 by ElyseLike many women—and men, too—on occasion, I’ve fallen prey to the charms of an archetypical “bad boy.” What can I say? A few tattoos, a motorcycle and a hint of an attitude problem make for an inexplicably attractive combination. Swashbuckling pirates might just be the original bad boys: They seek out adventure and danger, they
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Beginner’s Guide to Travel Writing
On August 29, 2018 by ElyseIn her nearly 15 years crisscrossing England on horseback, Celia had survived roadside accidents, lousy weather and overpriced meals at the 17th-century version of a tourist trap—but highway men were a first. A few miles outside the town of Whitchurch in Shropshire, two men had burst from the dense woods and onto the road. Judging